The present invention relates to accessories for bicycles, and more particularly to a novel pad for mounting on a bicycle pedal for protecting a rider's foot.
Modern day bicycles, particularly those of light frame racing construction, are provided with pedals having a generally rectangular metal frame. Extending between opposed side members of the frame is a central shaft upon which the rectangular metal frame is rotatably journaled. One end of the shaft is connected to a crank, which in turn is connected to the main drive sprocket of the bicycle. Many bicycles are provided with pedals having rectangular metal frames which have serrated edge portions for facilitating frictional grip between the bottom of a rider's shoe and the pedal.
However, many bicycle riders prefer to discard their shoes and rest the bottom soles of their feet directly on the metallic rectangular frame of the pedal. This is often done in the summertime or in beach or coastal areas. Unfortunately, because modern bicycle pedals include the aforementioned serrated edges, great discomfort to a barefoot rider results. While there have been several proposed solutions for mounting some type of protective cover on a bicycle pedal, none of these proposals have proved to be particularly advantageous.
For instance, one exemplary suggestion for providing a protective member on a bicycle pedal is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,867 issued to Haynes et al. This patent discloses a sleeve which is removably adapted to enclose a bicycle pedal for protecting the feet of a rider. However, it is apparent that such a sleeve requires material which will extend below the pedal in order that the sleeve will grip the pedal. Of course, it can be readily appreciated that the material extending beneath the pedal serves no function in protecting a rider's feet but is necessary in order to provide frictional gripping onto the pedal. Thus, wastage of materials results. Additionally, it is a somewhat time consuming task for a rider to force such a sleeve over a pedal and it can be appreciated that such a sleeve may not be readily removed.
Other proposals are present in the prior art for providing pads on pedals but these are directed primarily to pads for mounting on automobile pedals and are not adapted for mounting on bicycle pedals, especially bicycles having metallic rectangular frame constructions.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a protective pad for mounting on a bicycle pedal wherein the pedal includes a metallic rectangular frame. More particularly, the present invention is directed to providing a pad member having a substantially flat surface for contact by a rider's foot including a coupling means extending from the pad member for detachable mounting on at least one of the side members of the rectangular frame. The coupling means includes a gripping means or element formed as a channel member for frictionally engaging opposed surfaces of the side member of the rectangular frame. Thus, the pad member may be readily "clipped" to the pedal but is nonetheless readily removable.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a protective pad in which the gripping element is detachably connected to the pad member, and in a preferred embodiment, connected to the bottom surface of the pad member. To this end, the pad member is provided with a recess and the channel member is provided with a projection which may be detachably inserted into the recess. Additional recesses may be provided so that the channel member may be selectively positioned in a selected recess to vary the relative location of the channel member with respect to the pad member. Such a construction is provided so that if it is necessary to provide more than one channel member, the channel members may be selectively positioned on the pad member to accommodate bicycle pedal frames of varying dimensions.
These and additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood after a consideration of the drawings and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment.